Sunday’s piece about legislation that could weaken Maine’s sunshine law is receiving some bounce from supporters of open government, those who think Maine’s law is working just fine and those with a political interest in making sure a bill that shields concealed weapons data passes the Legislature. It’s a long story. It was a lot longer.  […]

Prediction or posture?   Democrats jumped to DEFCON 2 after House Republican leader Rep. Ken Fredette said during a debate with House Speaker Rep. Mark Eves on the WSCH 6 show “In the Arena” that a shutdown of state government was possible if there’s an impasse during negotiations of the state’s next two-year budget (the entire segment is […]

Lance Dutson, the former insurgent-style blogger who became one of the state’s top Republican operatives, has launched a new political consulting firm in Portland.  Dutson, along with Mike Leavitt, the former chief of staff for the Republican National Committee, are now heading up Red Hill Strategies and Cyber Policy, a partner organization focusing on the digital […]

(An earlier version of this posted indicated that the Education Committee could vote on the gun safety bill Wednesday; that’s wrong, the works session, and potential vote, is Thursday)   Cowards, hypocrites: Those were some of the words that WGAN Morning Show host Ken Altshuler used Wednesday morning to describe Democratic lawmakers’ move to pass […]

Give a listen to the podcast of Monday’s interview on WGAN where Mike Violette, Ken Altshuler and I discuss the concealed weapons flap as it migrates to the State House.  Not surprisingly, the discussion is dominated by guns and lawmakers’ rush to shield information that has been public since at least 1985. The topic was […]

Taxing issue: Democratic leaders have been talking a lot about a “tax fairness” the past two weeks. Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, first mentioned a fair tax structure last week during Democratic leaders’ weekly media availability. So what exactly will tax fairness legislation look like?  A bill by Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, may hold the […]

  Be sure to tune into Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s Maine Calling show at 12:15 on Wednesday. Dan Demeritt (the Republican), Michael Cuzzi (the Democrat), MPBN’s AJ Higgins (the referee), myself (the instigator) will join host Keith Shortall to discuss state politics. Feel free to tweet questions or comments to any or all of us: […]

Consequences: Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew warned Florida lawmakers on Monday about the potential perils of participating in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. Mayhew didn’t mention the politics of the issue, which are particularly acute for Republican governors who participate in voluntary portions of a law that their party had […]

Digging out, digging in  . . .  Bubble politics: At some point on Monday the Legislature’s budget writing committee hopes to vote out a $153 million plan designed to plug an equivalent sized shortfall in the state’s two-year budget. Lawmakers had hoped to do that last Thursday, but were still negotiating deals on separate line […]

Catching up, circling back on the State of the State . . .   The ha-has: Gov. Paul LePage tossed out a few zingers during his State of the State address. A sampling: – “Tonight, I am here to update you, the people of Maine, on the condition of our great state. Everything is fine. […]